Andrew Smith

Hi, I'm Andy! I'm a counsellor and supervisor with NHS experience supporting adults and younger people across Hampshire and Surrey.  My approach is relaxed and informal as I believe that a relaxed atmosphere helps us both have the space and time to explore whatever need to be discussed.

I began practicing as a counsellor in 2015 and have worked in the NHS since 2016. My caseload as a counsellor is varied and I work with adults as well as young people from the ages of 10 and up. As a supervisor, I have experience providing peer supervision in my NHS setting in groups as well as individually on a one-to-one basis. 

My supervision approach is collaborative, not prescriptive. I aim to foster a positive working relationship so we can explore your process as a practitioner, the experiences of the people you're working with and the wider systems that we are a part of which may have an impact. As a relational practitioner, I put great emphasis in the importance of our working dynamic to achieve balance between us. 

I am experienced working with short-term, solution-focused approaches within my NHS setting as well as a long-term, open ended approach through private practice. I feel it is important to take a broad approach to supervision, ensuring people are helping themselves as much as they are helping the people they are working with.

I am flexible in how I am able to offer supervision which would be either in person my practice in Aldershot, Hampshire, or online / via telephone.  My fee is £75 for each 90 minute session with a concessionary rate of £55 for practitioners in training.

I'd be delighted to discuss your supervision requirements so please get in touch and we can see how we can work together. I'll look forward to hearing from you!

My supervision approach is collaborative, using Hawkins and Shohet's Seven-Eyed Model as a foundation to explore your process as a practitioner, the experiences of the people you're working with and the wider systems that we are a part of which may have an impact. I am a relational practitioner, putting great emphasis in the importance of our working dynamic to achieve balance between us. Personally, I find the title "Supervisor" to not sit comfortably because of this implied imbalance and I see myself as being here to help in a collaboration. I don't try to help by being too directive in telling people what to do. Instead, we work together to explore what is best for you and the people you work with.

I am experienced working with short-term, solution-focused approaches within my NHS setting as well as a long-term, open ended approach through private practice. I appreciate the importance of discussing not only people's caseloads but the wider context of the systems we are a part of. I feel it is important to take a broad approach to supervision, ensuring people are helping themselves as much as they are helping the people they are working with.

I believe the first session is an opportunity to get to know each other and understand how we might be able to work together. I view supervision as collaborative professional development so I would want to discuss your practice experience up to this point and learn about what you need. I would reflect how I think I might be able to support you and what I perceive my strengths and weaknesses are. I aim to establish a comfortable working relationship so we are able able to make this a balanced and fulfilling experience.

Hi, I'm Andy! I'm a counsellor with NHS experience supporting adults and younger people across Hampshire and Surrey. My approach is relaxed and informal because that's the sort of person I am. I believe that a relaxed atmosphere helps us both have the space and time to explore whatever issues or problems that need to be discussed.

I have worked with people to;

* Understand and address problems with anxiety

* Build feelings of confidence and self-esteem

* Appropriately manage stress and unhelpful behaviours

* Challenge unhelpful patterns of thinking

* Explore and understand their thoughts and feelings

* Become more motivated to achieve their goals

Each problem a person experiences is unique so I'm very happy to have a chat about how we could work together.

I possess an enhanced DBS certificate as, in addition to my private practice, I work as a Youth Counsellor in the West Surrey and North East Hampshire Youth Counselling Service. This is part of Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). I am accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) as well as being a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS). I also hold professional accreditation with the National Counselling Society (NCS).

I work in private practice located in Aldershot and I also offer online or telephone appointments in addition to face-to-face sessions, should this suit you better.

I have extensive work experience within the public sector as working to support people is something I am truly passionate about. Mental health is such an important, yet sometimes overlooked, facet of our lives so if you feel like you, or your child, could benefit from talking then please get in touch so we could see how we could work together.

I'll look forward to hearing from you!

I offer face-to-face appointments from my private practice in Aldershot, Hampshire. I also offer appointments via the online platforms of Skype, Google Meet, WhatsApp Video as well as over the phone.

All appointments vary from person to person due to the person-centred way that I work. For me, a first appointment is about meeting and getting to know each other to see if we feel comfortable talking together. It is an opportunity for us to get to talk about how we could work together, for you to ask any questions you may have for me and for us both to get a general sense of how future appointments could work.

If we are working together directly, I would like to ask you what has brought you here, what you hope to achieve and outline how I might be able to help. If I would be working with your child, we would spend some time with all of us together getting to know each other and asking questions before you would leave and let me and your child talk one-to-one. You would then come back in for the last few minutes and we would discuss how to proceed. 

Most appointments will last up to 50 minutes however if you feel you need more, or less, time then this is something we can discuss before the appointment. I encourage people to try and have an initial appointment with different practitioners so they can make an informed choice as to what feels right for them. Sometimes, people like to take some time to think about what they wish to do, so after the first appointment, I give people as much space as they need and will let them follow up with me in their own time.

I am here to try and help however I am able, so if you felt that after the first session, you would like to set up further appointments I would be happy to do so. However, if a person felt they would prefer to talk to someone else after the initial appointment, I would be happy to make a recommendation to alternative practitioners.